Recently I posted about the ins and outs of “Baby Shopping with Leviticus” – my adventure into buying a baby gift for a brand new Orthodox Jewish baby. After today’s alarming news about Gillian Gibbons’ ordeal in Sudan, I revisited my post and realized that even had I brought a teddy bear to that baby, it would have been a faux pas at worst and something we would all laugh about.

How does our tattered, damaged, world explain Gillian Gibbons, her students and the bear? As I understand it, the students named the bear in a class election and the name Muhammad got 20/23 votes. I suspect they thought they were naming him the most wonderful, respectful name of the three names suggested. So where is the problem that will put a British woman in jail for allowing a teddy bear to be named Muhammad. If Islamic children were not allowed this name because it was sacred, one might understand. There would be no exceptions obviously. (even a small baby of special goodness or intelligence might be idolized if improperly named Muhammad – it’s happened before). And in spite of some cultures using the name Jesus for boys – it is not widespread because I suspect it sounds a little sacrilegious to most Christians. But certainly not blasphemous. Even though Leviticus, himself mentioned those who has blasphemed would “surely be put to death” (Leviticus 24:10-16). And Luke the Apostle (Luke 12:10) called it the eternal sin, I don’t think it had much to do with the naming of stuffed animals or babies. The times they spoke in and of were rife with Idol Worshippers. And the act of blaspheming is generally meant to libel or defame a god or gods. That presents another problem with the bear who was not even named Allah; he was named after Allah’s prophet who made it quite clear he was not God. You might also ask why these children – some of whom are Muslims, felt it was perfectly all right to name the bear as they did. Probably because it was okay.

The real question for me is why this particular faith in God requires so much, dying, bloodletting and debasing punishments for so many things – with no recourse. I am not Islamic, nor do I presume to imagine what Allah told his prophet – but in general, quoting from Wikipedia:

“In ethics and law, “Let the punishment fit the crime” is the principle that the severity of penalty for a misdeed or wrongdoing should be reasonable and proportional to the severity of the infraction. The concept is common to most cultures throughout the world. (“Italics mine).

In the Koran there appears to be no injunction about the naming of people Muhammad nor does it specify a teddy bear. The law was simply meant to keep Islam idol free. Just as Judaism has done. And the Koran – which is more widely misused for gain, than quoted accurately does not condone the mistreatment of the innocent or the unknowing. TheHadith and Sunnah – the laws and traditions of Islam began being added to Islam a full 100 years after the death of the prophet. It comes as no surprise that anyone codifying a revealed faith might get some of its best ideas for heresy from an already successful endeavor called the Roman Church. They, after all, excelled at burnings, stonings, autos da fe and torture for those who didn’t believe correctly. ( Possibly the Baltimore Catechism was a later inspiration, but you see where this is going) Just as the Roman Church eagerly ordered these burnings and stonings and autos da fe; so too did the mullahs and ayatollahs who devised these codifications of the Koran. Dramatic laws and punishment are proven methods for leading to a greater control of the population and a way to advance ones group into power.

Submission.org is an excellent source for logical information about the Islamic faith and what it doesn’t stand for.

Since the bear was not being worshipped and there was never any intention to worship the bear and nothing is in the Koran that even mentions naming toys after the prophet – I tend to think this is a convenient spin on Hadith and Sunnah in the Sudan and I can tell you it is not going to enhance or further the Sudanese government, its dictator or the cause of Islam an iota. If you ever needed a small course in the mindset of the folks who created the Janjaweed and the disaster in Darfur – this should be your wake up call.

And it makes me wonder too, what will become of the children and their bear?